Keys
by SoleFaith
Summary: "No matter who you are." the Governor smiles. "You're the precious missing piece in an incomplete puzzle. You're valuable. Never in my whole time knowing Merle did I ever seem him so concerned about someone." the Governor walks closer and sits across from her. "Now I wonder what would happen if your brothers knew their sister was here. Alone. Scared." Rating May Change.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead or it's plot and charterers.**

**Chapter One: Fire Has Eyes**

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Lexi hadn't talked to anyone since the accident in Atlanta. Since she lost one of her brothers went missing. Other than Daryl no one could tell how she was feeling. But, that was a sibling thing. Daryl grew up. He became less and less rude. Lexi stayed the same, she wore the same look of anger plastered across her face. She missed him more than anything. She was a ticking time bomb and everyone knew it.

Lexi sharpened a stick against her knife. Her location was hidden by an abyss of shade. She listened as Glen and Maggie gathered supplies for baby Judith. She didn't think but she still was blacked out to any noise around her after that. Then without warning she heard the car hum to life. Getting up she called up to Glen and Maggie angrily. "Yo Glen! You and yer girlfriend trying to leave me out here alone?" she snarls but the car continues to move slowly in the other direction. "Glen!" she starts. "Stop the damn vehicle!" The vehicle comes to a fast halt as if they had just heard her. As she walks up to the car the door slams open and Lexi jumps back startled. "Merle!" she squeals with uncontrollable excitement. "Me and Daryl thought you were dead!" Lexi runs up to him and hugs him until he pushes her off. In any other circumstance Glen would have laughed. No one ever hugs Merle without getting a broken jaw.

"Didn't Glen and Maggie tell you I was here?" she asked talking more than she ever had since he went missing. "Well?" she pushes. Merle's eyes widen with fear. In no way was he going to take his little sister back to the Governor. He raises his gun to her.

"Imma leave and you ain't gonna follow me." he snarls She freezes and nods. In no way did Lexi expect her brother to turn on her right when she found him. Merle carefully steps into the car and it zooms away. Hissing, she turns to where Maggie had apparently dropped the supplies. It was gone.  
As Lexi approached the prison it seemed ghost like. Other than Carl on watch no one stood outside. Carl saw her and gave her a frank nod. She could barely hear him calling to Rick to open the gates. Lexi hated Rick. The only respect she had for him came from the fact that he had the balls to kill that son a bitch Shane. The sun blurred in her face as she finally heard the gates opining. Walking through, all she could see was Daryl rushing towards her. "Shit Lex!" he says when he is close enough to her. "We thought he toke you away with Glen and Maggie!" Daryl sighs.

"How the hell did you know about that Daryl?" she snarls. He thinks this over for a minute and Lexi begins to storm off to the cell block. Soon she feels her brother warm hands on her shoulders. He was so over protective especially when she was around Merle.

"Lex you need to tell me if something happened." he said quietly. He was acting way to soft. Now she knew he didn't know about Merle. Daryl stood there a second waiting for her to answer his question.

"You mean Merle." Lexi said in a hushed voice. "You mean how he was the one who toke Glen and Maggie to who knows where. You mean how he saw me, got in the car and just kept driving?" she pushes Daryl's hands off her shoulders and continues her long march to her cell. Daryl just stands there dumbfounded as she yells her last words to him in that conversation. "That asshole just kept driving!" Lexi's loud voice alerts some of the fence walkers but nobody seems to care.

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The rest of the day she dedicates to killing the fence walkers. One after the other they all fell down dead in front of the fence that protects her. It gives her joy to watch them die. Rick's hand touches her back and he breaths in harshly. "I'm sorry Lexi." he says "The new lady Machonne is going to lead us back to Wood Bury so we can get Glen and Maggie back. You can come if you want." Lexi's fist makes contact with Rick's jaw.

"That's for locking my brother to a roof!" she yells her heart pounding. Rick stumbles back surprised at her sudden reaction to him speaking to her. Her foot makes contact with his gut. "That's for leaving him there." he sighs moving back bewildered. He had no chance of defending himself. Daryl would kill him. "I'm going to Wood Bury." she says awkwardly. "And don't even think about telling Daryl." Rick's face shows complete confusion in her decision and that confusion gives her the chance to run in the other direction. Lexi hopes on her brother's motorcycle and signals Carl to open the gate. Carl reluctantly obeys unaware at Rick running towards them. The motorcycle and Lexi disappear onto the road behind a mass of trees and brush.

The ride is long and the sun starts to go down. There is no noise of vehicles coming up from behind her. Just the chirp of crickets from the long forest grass. Lexi was finally alone. Daryl was going to kill her for stealing his motorcycle. She brushes the thought from her mind. Merle. He's ate Wood Bury and her only option was to find him. Soon the trees begin to lesson and the land almost becomes a parking lot as she approaches a town with flickering lights. This must be Wood Bury. "Put your hands over your head!" a voice yells as Daryl's motorcycle hums to a stop. Lexi does as she is told.

Inside the walls Merle hears the motorcycle. "Damn girl!" he cusses under his breath. From behind him the Governor taps his shoulder. "You know her?" he says pointing at the gate opining. Merle decides he can't lie now. "Yea, my sister." he says jittery. He can't be rude the Governor would kill his ass.

"So she'll nicely tell us where the camp is located" the Governor smiles a nasty smile.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter Two: Perfection is Over Rated_**

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The gates of Wood Bury opened with a hiss of perfection. On the other side stood a pissed off Merle and an anxious Governor. As soon as Merle saw Lexi he requested the Governor call of the guards at the gate so as not to cause any trouble. "Get behind me." he hissed when he saw her walking over to him with a smile tactically placed on her lips. She ignored his request as she walked up to him. Merle wasn't a nice man but Lexi was blood. Blood sticks together.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" the Governor asks with hast. Merle's face begins turning ghost white. He doesn't feel so good anymore.

"This is Lexi." Merle says doubtfully. He knew she could introduce herself but anything that came out of her mouth could get her into trouble. "She's my sister." An even bigger smile forms on the Governor's face at this last part. Merle had already told him that. Merle was nervous.

"And let me guess." Lexi sasses "This is the third grade substitute teacher nobody likes. What was his name again? Mr. Tight Suit?" the Governor gives a forced laugh pulling his fingers through his dirty blonde hair. The active chatter and festivities from the town make everything seem silent in their conversation.

"Merle where the hell did you stash Glen and Maggie? Everyone back at camp is too quick to think the worst." Lexi pushes her question through him like a knife. That's why he didn't want her to talk. "And why did you drive off on me? I almost didn't know where to find you." Her question cut so deep it almost needed stitches and the Governor glared at Merle hatred filling his eyes.

"Is there something you want to tell me Mr. Tight Suit?!" Lexi growls. "Because I can see right through you pretty guy act. I can tell that before this you were a drunken sorry ass sitting on the corner of the midway." Lexi's eyes glow with mischief. "And if you ever look at my brother like that again Imma break your noise." The Governor steps back startled at her sudden tough guy attitude.

"I'll talk to you later Merle." the Governor says biting back laughter. "Be Ready." Once the Governor is far enough away Lexi cracks up laughing. The Governor seemed so typical to her that it became funny. A stinging bruise formed on her face as Merle's hand slaps her.

"You damn idiot!" he snarled. "You trying to get yourself killed." Lexi takes the slap as a complement. She was so thankful to see her brother again that she could almost hug him like she did the day before. But, she was in public and didn't want to look weak.

"Silly, silly Merle." she chuckled as two children run past playing tag. "Daryl and me where so worried about you. He flipped out. He even still has your hand." Lexi wanted to laugh but it was a bad time. "I didn't talk to any of those losers for months. They thought I was traumatized or something." Merle almost smirked at this. The Atlanta group he once knew was such a gullible bunch.

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Night had fallen. Lexi didn't listen to her brother's warning about leaving. Instead she sat outside waiting for some action. It was too bad there were no walkers inside the walls. It might have been fun for her to get some of her frustration out. The first bullet rang through her mind and smoke seemed to rise up from nowhere. "They're here." she whispered to herself remembering something she had once heard on TV. Another bullet rang and the yelling began. Lexi knew to duck and find cover because if she didn't she could get shot by one of her own men. Soon she felt herself being pulled behind a park bench. She looked to the side eyes full of fear only to see the big teddy bear named Daryl. "Shit Daryl! She scared the living hell out of me." Daryl ducked and shot a bullet into the back of a passing shadow.

"Lex if dad where here he'd whoop your ass for running off like that." Daryl murmured. He was secretly furious with her for running off on him like that. He had lost so many people in his life. He wasn't losing his sister because she got lost or killed.

"Yea and he would whoop yours for letting me." she sighed. Lexi knew that he didn't let her but their dad blamed everything on him and Daryl knew it. "You see Merle yet?" she interrogated him with the fierceness of her words. The way he looked down at his hands she knew he hadn't. Turning her head and closing eyes she avoided looking at him. His pain was more than obvious.

She turned to her brother and saw him growling at a henchman who was dragging him away. She was thin, careful, and apparently invisible to her brother's kidnapper. So, she followed the person all the way to hell. A giant arena shaped clearing stocked with sold out bleachers and a one eyes angry substitute teacher stole her eyes. The people. The vast amount of completely living people cheered for her brothers to fight to the death. To her dismay just as she decided to run and stop the war like event an alcohol drenched dish cloth was pulled over her mouth and she fell into a deep sleep.

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"Did Lexi leave before us?" Daryl asked as the group who had just invaded Wood Bury stood in a wooded clearing discussing their next move. Merle was finally coming to from being knocked out with the butt of a gun.

"Yea, I think so." Rick murmured still upset Daryl had choose Merle over the group. Merle stood up from his position under a tree and walked over to them dizzily.

"If she's still there Lil brother." Merle said his accent flaring. They're going break her down to the meatiest part of her twiggy bones." They brushed off merles awful comment and concluded that she was safe at the prison. "Tell her I said bye Officer friendly." Merle laughed off into the woods.

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**_This Chapter was so fun to write! At the end of it I finally got Merle to actually act like himself other than a big brother type of person. As always: I do not own The Walking dead or its plot and characters. I hope you enjoyed this chapter of the story and remember reviews are helpful and always welcome._**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter 3: The Prisoner From the Prison**_

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Somehow Lexi felt conflicted. Daryl was a stiff kid and somehow he was capable to accept their mom's death so easily. She didn't get it. After that happened, she ran away for two weeks finally coming home to an empty house. A note was taped to the fridge. It was torn but stapled back together. Lexi began to read the note dumbfounded. "Kids I'm leaving on a business trip. If your sister ever comes back whoop her ass for me." She felt little. Too little to understand what the note read. This house was too new to her after the fire.

They didn't have insurance so they lived in the rubble of burnt walls and plastic furniture covers. For some reason this memory came to her mind flooding the fact that she was stolen from her family and friends. The door slowly creaked open in front of her taking the memory away completely. Lexi was still a young. Much younger than Merle seems to think she is and tragically much older than Daryl treats her.

"Nice to meet you again. Lexi is it?" the man walks in an eye patch covering a wound. She already knew the man. She was introduced to him earlier that day.

"No." she retorted hotly rubbing her head, feeling the mats scratching against her soft hands. "To you I'm no one. Just a passing memory of a dream." Her words bit the man like a thick northern cold.

"No matter who you are." the Governor smiles. "You're the precious missing piece in an incomplete puzzle. You're valuable. Never in my whole time knowing Merle did I ever see him so concerned about someone." the Governor walks closer and sits across from her. "Now I wonder what would happen if your brothers knew their sister was here. Alone. Scared." the Governor stopped and waited for her to respond. Lexi seemed tough to him. Too tough to respond.

But, Lexi wasn't tough. She was scared. Tears welled up in her eyes and she bit them back. The Governor smiled a rare cruel smile. Then he walked out fire in his eyes. He didn't know why but he liked her she was the devil to him, the devil with luscious brown hair and hazel brown eyes. When he left she let out air that was stiff in her throat. It felt good.

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Daryl and Merle returned to the prison after the Governors vicious attack. Only one had died and that was the last prisoner to have lived. Rick didn't feel good about letting Merle stay with them but he knew he couldn't lose Daryl ever again. Daryl was too important. The sun began to set and Daryl walked up to Rick tired and worn out. "I need to talk to Lexi after I see Carol. Do you know where she is?" Daryl says yawning as Merle stands behind him smirking.

"Didn't she leave with you?" Rick reasons with Daryl knowing he had made a mistake telling him Lexi was safe at the prison. No one had seen her since the invasion in Wood Bury.

"No. You told us she was safe at the prison. I remember." Daryl argues agitated. Merle smiles a deep smile of annoyance and amusement.

"Officer Friendly made a bo bo." he says looking and sounding drunk. Before he could finish is rant Rick heard Carl yelling for him and everyone turned still worked up from what had happened. Carl seemed calm enough but he was holding an envelope stuck together with a red seal with patterns of circles.

"Dad, the person who came out from the truck holding all the zombies." Carl started holding out the envelop towards Rick. "The person dropped this letter." Merle came over to Carl still a little dizzy from what had just happened and grabbed the letter. Daryl began to rip it from his hands but noticed Rick didn't care that he had it. The note read:

**_To you at the prison, but mostly to Merle and his little princess brother. I have something you want. Something scared._**

**_Something alone. I'll give you your feisty little doll back if you come alone and without the rest of your "group". If I find out_**

**_in any way that you have the rest of the group. Your pretty little "prize" will get a bullet_**

**_in it's pretty little head. ~Governor_**

Merle's face turned from drunken amusement to ghost pale and he handed the note to Daryl who whipped it at the ground. Rick leaned over to pick it up and he read it also. He didn't seem as worried as they did and it began to piss off Daryl. "Dad what does it say?" Carl says putting his hands out to receive the letter. Rick stuffed the letter in his pocket trying to protect Carl from the disturbance of the new world they live in. Carl tipped his hat over his eyes and walked away mumbling under his breath.

"Daryl if you're going back you know you're going to have to bring more people than just you and your brother." Rick says his voice cracking on the last part of the sentence. Merle remains frozen picturing Lexi trapped at Wood Bury.

"Yea I'll bring more people if I want to put a bullet in my sister's head." Daryl snarls beginning to sound the way he did back at the Atlanta camp. Rick begins to speak and Daryl interrupts him shutting him up. "I've bowed down to yer dictator ship for a long time. But, this is not yer decision. It's mine. Me and Merle, we are going alone." Rick stands furious and happy at the same time. At that moment he wanted to punch Daryl in the face but he couldn't because Daryl finally stood up instead of being withdrawn.

"You're right it's your choice." Rick admits walking back to the cell block looking for Judith.

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The room Lexi was in was cold. It felt colder than before. The door creaked open a second time that day leaving her scared as ever. But, it was only the man she had come to know as Milton. He held a plate in his hands. On the plate was water in a tall whine glass and mashed potatoes coated with peas. Milton looked weary as if he was being watched and he began to leave shaking. "Milton how do you expect me to eat this with my hands bound. Milton gave her a reassuring smile but knew he didn't have the right to untie her.

"I'm sorry Miss. You must make do with what you have." he said kindly. Lexi liked Milton. He was nice and he didn't treat her like she was in prison. How ironic. She left a prison to be captured and treated like a prisoner.

"You don't have to do what he says you know. You seem like a nice enough person." Lexi tries to smile but can't. Before Milton leaves he manages to get a couple words out.

"I guess I nicer than I think." he says thinking about his plan to burn the pit walkers. They would be burnt to a crisp in more than a couple of days.

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_**Wow! That was hard to write. I had writers block for so long. Remember to Review. I want to hear what you guys** **thought. Thanks for Reading and Stay Tuned.  
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	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter 4: Poison To Me**_

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Lexi looked at her feet awkwardly. The plate of food Milton had given her was still full. She couldn't figure out how to eat it. "I guess I will pretend to refuse my food. Act tough and not eat." she sighed to herself. As the thoughts in her head ran wild she kicked that plate that sat in front of her letting the contents spill across the floor. Laughing off the pain she began to feel in her left side, Lexi's memory began to move faster and faster until she was stuck in a memory that possessed her.

"Lori. I'm pregnant." Lexi muttered to her enemy sitting side by side on a prison bed. Lori looked up genuinely surprised by this comment. Lexi didn't talk to anyone, ever. "I mean you're pregnant, how do you deal with having that thing." Lexi paused ready to pounce up and insult Lori. "How do you deal with that thing being able to turn inside of you?" Lori looked up from her stomach hoping the conversation would go on longer.

"How are you pregnant?" Lori said trying to smile off the basis of her question. She knew it was a little personal but she needed to know. It was important. The only men at the prison were Hershel, Daryl, and Glen and they were either taken, elderly, or related. Lexi glared at her.

"I don't know." Lexi mutters. "I didn't have sex at all since all of this happened and I didn't even look at any of the horn dogs at this place." Lexi mutters closing her eyes just to find herself back in present time.

"You're pregnant?" a voice whips at her unexpectedly. Lexi turns to see Milton sitting behind her in a chair. His eyes are solid with anger and yet they were calm and worried. It was a memory how could he hear her. But apparently he did and this made her almost crazy. Damn word. Crazy.

"How in hell did you know that?" she said calmer than he had expected. He winced at the question. He was already in the room for too long. Milton shuffled with his fingers. "I asked you a question!" she said way too angrily.

"You." he starts ready to bolt out of his chair and run. "You said it. You were spacing out and then you said the word pregnant. I'm sorry to intrude on you Miss." he said getting up from his chair and walking out of the room.

"You and your dirty rotten people." she snarled and he stopped walking half way out the door. "Have already intruded enough." Lexi sighed cradling her stomach in her arms. It was getting larger. She knew she was pregnant. Lori knew she was pregnant. Lori was the only one who knew. Lori was dead. A conversation started on the outside of the half vacant room. Milton was nice. But, he was a tattle. Too much of a tattle to be trusted with anything. Lexi know knew this when she realized the conversation revolved around her and her situation. The situation that lay silent in her stomach.

The door slide open not to reveal Milton but the Governor. "Well this changed everything." the Governor says annoyed. "This changes every little detail that I had spent so much time planning out." though he meant to be sarcastic his tone was fast and harsh. He walked closer running his fingertips across her cheek. "You're pregnant with a mini person. But, somehow I doubt this person just came from no were." She winced at his words and his fingers glided through her silky hair.

"Who's the dad." he says knelling down next to her. "Who's the other half of the dynamic duo." his fingers felt like nails grinding into her skin. There was no easy way to answer this but she knew she couldn't stay silent.

"There is no dead." she shivered feeling the warmth in his eyes glowing and becoming hotter and hotter. "I haven't done anything. Ever." Lexi felt her answer to be significant to her survival. The baby was an accident in the circle of life. There was a missing part. There was no male. "I'm alone." she admits lowering her eyes that now stain the ground with guilt. Lexi hadn't lied. There was no other half.

"So, this baby just came from nowhere?" he says leaning his hand on her delicate shoulder, metaphorical venom dripping from his stance, his stance in time. Lexi didn't respond, holding on any secrets she had left. "So I'm the first to know your little secret." he says kissing her neck. Lexi pushed him off her and he a slap rings out through the room. "Your special and I'm not letting you go." he finishes. The last thing her bruised check felt was the Governors hot breath claiming her.

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_**Thanks for reading sorry this was so short it's life! :)**_


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm sorry for the short chapter. This is going to be the last. If you want to find out what happens next, read the continuation story "Paradise" **Coming Soon**_

**_Chapter 5: A Life Forged From Paper_**

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How long was Lexi pregnant? Only time would tell. She had no signs of being pregnant. Her stomach was smooth, flat and her skin had no wrinkles. How could she be? A thought came to her head. Suicide. A quick escape from time and space. There would be no more suffering just nothingness. A metal rod or a metal stick would be all she needed. Lexi pictured herself pushing the jagged metal through a tender spot on her skull. Then she thought about her baby. A third generation Dixon was just lying in her stomach. There was no father to choose the way she raised the child and no in laws to warp her perspectives of how to teach it. Lexi sighed at the pleasant change in thoughts. She couldn't let her baby die with her. A smile planted itself on her black lipstick that was almost rubbed off. Lexi imagined looking in a mirror to see her eye liner smudged below her wet eyes. Then she pictured her clothing which consisted of jeans and a worn gray T-Shirt that quoted some long lost band. A band that she wore as a tough cover. A band she didn't even like. The bang of a gunshot hit her ears but she didn't let out her breath. It could easily be nothing. Lexi waited, tied up in her chair until the door wiped open reviling a rattled Governor. One more figure stood in the door way. It was Daryl.

Daryl stood angrily his crossbow pointed at his feet. He had the shot he could shoot that son of a bitch dead. But there was a problem. The Governors arm was wrapped across Lexi's neck. He could kill her right there if Daryl even dared to raise his weapon. Daryl couldn't risk it. "You're going to shoot?" the Governor questioned tightening his grip. "If I die she dies too." the Governor shot Daryl a smirk. "She's rather entertaining." he pauses devilish. "Did you know she's pregnant and there's no father, according to her." A deep cracking buzz fills the air as anger rises up in Daryl's face. "I bet if there was a father, you would know about it. Anyone back at your precious prison ever even look at her funny? Maybe that Rick character? I think she likes him deep down." Lexi gags as the Governor's grip tightens even more around her scrawny straw-like neck. There was nothing Daryl could do but listen to his angering words. "I can see why you're so protective of her. She's beautiful." he smiles pulling his hand down her check gently. "Just adorable."

Daryl looked at his crossbow and where it was pointed. No one noticed but him. He didn't have to shoot to kill, just to injure. The Governor frowned as an arrow suddenly struck his foot. He swore and screamed clutching the pain. The Governor's grip around Lexi's neck loosened and she slipped out. Her mouth was dry and she ran. She hadn't drunk anything in two days. Not caring to turn and see if Daryl was OK, she just ran. Lexi ran tripping over Merle's body that was sprawled out across the damp pavement. He was a walker. A dead walker. Lexi heard a moan and a walker turned to face her. Lexi kissed his forehead tears and anger waling up inside of her and continued to run from Wood Bury. She heard quite footsteps behind her. Daryl's quite footsteps and they calmed her. But pain reared its ugly teeth and she keeled over. Her water had broken. Lexi yelled at the sky and walkers began to merge from the creaks of the bushes. It was now or never and the baby had died.

An eerie silence filled the air around her. The baby was still and so was she. Heat filled the palms of her hands and her head touched the pavement. She was comfortable. Lights flashed around her as she finally saw an image above her. A screaming image. The image knelt down bashing its palms on the ground. Lexi didn't hear the anger and hate. She heard a buzzing noise the summed up her life and she no longer cared about death as much as she thought she would because she finally felt peace. Dark spots filled her vision and she blacked out. Maybe she wasn't dead. Maybe someone had saved her, but for their sake they better hope she was dead. Lexi has finally found peace and if someone toke that away from her. They are as good as dead.

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Remember to review. Hope you enjoyed this story and stay tuned to _read the continuation story "Paradise" **Coming Soon**_


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